Works fine, but helps that my wife is small and we just have the one rugrat. Fitting someone behind me isn't great, I'm 6'2"

 

We're making it work! Wife has a tolerable amount of legroom with a rear-facing car seat behind her, and our full-size stroller is an exact fit in the trunk.

For reference, we're both slightly above average heights, car seat is Nuna Rava, and stroller is Baby Jogger City Select.

For rear-facing car seats or infant carriers, your options are limited without having the passenger seat shoved all the way forward. Look for car seats with the shortest depth you can find.

 

Is the GR your main kid hauler?

 

We split our time between the GR and an E46 Sedan, which isn't any bigger.

 

It's been fine with the car seat (Britax Marathon Clicktight) facing forward behind the passenger seat. My wife is 5'8" and has enough room to be comfortable although I think she finds the ride objectionable vs. the WRX or or Crosstrek. I will generally choose the Crosstrek when hauling them but the GR is fine for anything around town.

 

I'm 5'10 and my better half is 5'6. We are on the heaftier side, with 2 kids. 1 in a booster and 1 in a forward facing seat. We all fit very comfortably.

 

Been using a rear facing child seat for months now in the GR. It fits pretty good and allows the wife to fit somewhat comfortably in the front seat. But just a heads up I noticed with the top of the car seat touching the back of the passenger seat some CHAFING, did occur and made a slight mark on the seat like the cloth was fraying....kinda mad about it, but only I would notice. Most other days the kiddo is in the Tacoma.

Expecting baby girl number two in February so I will keep it updated with two car seats in the back. Overall the rear seat is tiny though in the GRC compared to others in the segment. But again expectations were low as this is still a compact car.

 

It's been fine with the car seat (Britax Marathon Clicktight) facing forward behind the passenger seat. My wife is 5'8" and has enough room to be comfortable although I think she finds the ride objectionable vs. the WRX or or Crosstrek. I will generally choose the Crosstrek when hauling them but the GR is fine for anything around town.

We were cross shopping the GR with the 23 WRX which is better fit but I prefer Toyota and the GR looks and development.
We have a Crewmax Tundra for main long trip kid hauling but a little hesitant at times to take the plunge with kids and the GR size.

 

The rear doors don't open all the way. It's a bit frustrating when you don't expect it. We are getting used to it but getting the dog in and out isn't as easy as any of my other cars. The rear hatch doesn't add any extra storage space. If anything, you get less space because of the AWD system.

 

the rear doors don't swing as wide as what I've been used to with Subaru. that's my only complaint.

as far as car seat fitting in, it's all good. we recently flipped from rear to front facing, and rear facing it was fine too, although the back of the car seat did rub on the rear of the headrest.

stroller fits just fine too, although this is one of those ultra collapsable ones.

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my wife has an Outback, and everything fits so much easier in that, but for bustling around town, or an overnight trip, this does great.

 

o0o0o0o0o I felt this, I had a 2013 wrx and knew those doors OPENED alot wider. Must be a weird toyota thing, as even my wife's rav4 rear doors DO NOT OPEN wide at all.

But then I get into my tacoma and the rear doors open almost all the way allowing super easy access.

 

Does the experience outweigh the kiddo/cargo shortcomings? Has anyone gotten tired of the size and want something bigger?

 

NO, the fact that its this nimble and able to whip around is sooo refreshing lol. Everything else feels huge and handles horribly. Being able to make my daughter giggle when I get on it, is pure joy.

 

the small size of the car is what I like about it.

 

How is the GR working out for you when you haul your kids around? Do car seats or boosters fit? Do you have a bigger car for kid duty?

I also have a ‘22 Sienna. This would be fine in a one car garage with one, possibly two kids as long as you don’t have a large dog or something. You’d probably have to use the roof rack for longer drives for luggage or something. You might run into issues with a rear facing seat. That’s about all. It’s kind of crazy how much bigger inside cars are nowadays vs like the 80s/90s. People raised entire families in a V20/V30 Camry, a GRC will probably be fine for most people.

 

I find the design of the rear seats has a huge impact on space for car seats. My wifes old 05 Matrix had way more room between the child seat and the front seat than my 07 Grand Cherokee did.

 

it's as much the design of the front seats, especially when dealing with rear facing.

my wife's Outback front seats are huge, the back is really deep, vs the Corolla the seats aren't quite as deep on the back.

basically, the amount of space that the backrest of the front seat occupies, from the cloth you rest your back against, to the back of the seat where someone's knees might bump.

the result is, in both cars, even though the Outback has massively more interior volume, they both end up with the rear facing car seat rubbing on the back of the front seat.

 

I find the design of the rear seats has a huge impact on space for car seats. My wifes old 05 Matrix had way more room between the child seat and the front seat than my 07 Grand Cherokee did.

Meaning the design makes it to where there is very little room for car seats?

 

Exactly. The rear legroom (29.9") has got to be worst-in-class. I couldn't find any other four-door cars with less.

The biggest issue will be with infant and rear-facing seats, as they are longer and thus take up more "legroom". If you or your partner or tall, you'll need to look specifically for carseats with a shorter depth. Seats like the Graco Extend2fit or Nuna Rava are solid options with a small footprint.

 

My wife and I are on the larger side and we have two kids that are both tall for their age of 6 and 3. Both are in diono radian seats, forward facing in configurations appropriate for their size. As soon as I got the car we found out a family member died and almost immediately took the car on a 1600 km road trip back and forth to the funeral. There was plenty of space and no complaints from anyone. After we got back it was in time for a planned summer road trip where we took the car on a 2400 km trip where we were gone for nearly 2 weeks. The car once again was up to the task. We had to stuff some things in the rear foot wells below the kids feet but it all fit. The journey was an absolute pleasure in the car and there were absolutely zero complaints.

It doesn't have the most room, and in fact the rear seats and the trunk are both noticably smaller than the Focus RS it replaced, but it is a secondary vehicle for us and my wife's crossover has more than enough space to make this work for us both when we want to take a trip in it, and when we need to take a trip in it. That being said with hockey road trips in our near future, I'll be getting a thule to carry some of the additional load when the time comes.

 

That too. The Grand Cherokee had very thick seats, and the rear seat base was very flat = no space for a rear facing seat. The Matrix had thinner seats and the rear seat base had a bit of an angle = more space for a rear facing seat.